Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-10-07
~ DIVINE PLUMB LINE.
n,. Talmage's Sermon at the
Brooklyn Tabernacle.

,oht Up and Down Religion Wanted
H.s;,css Panics Caused by a Lack of
..,,,,.-Brain Workers Need as Mucl,
s-,,,athy as Laborers.
nnooK1Ys, Sept. 25.-After the great
prarepation had sung the long meter
n asoey in the Brooklyn Tabernacle this
. ,yu DR.. Talmage expounded the sixth
e sntar Of the Second Epistle to the Cor.
mans. si setting forth the importance of
n, ui from bad fellowship. and saying
!, man is no better than the company
teeps. Professor Henry Eyre brown
yed m organ solo, Sonata NO. IN u
Nor by Guillmant. The subject OF the
mon was "a Straight Up and Down Re
ian" and the text was Amos vii, .. And
Lord said unto me, Amos, what eeest
eu2 and said, plumb line." DIR. Ial'
egs said: =.
The solid masouary of the world has to
fascination. Walk about some OF the me
amphal arches and the cathedrals, 4oo
eto years old, and see them stand as
ect as when they were builded, walls OF
rat height for centuries, not bending
after of an inch this way or that. 30
,suy honored we're the masons VINO
lded these walls that they were free
I'M taxation and called free" masons.
p trowel gets most Of the credit for these these
Killings, and its clear ringing on stone
dbrick has sounded across the ages. But
re is another implement of just as much
portance as the trowel, and my test re-
pnizesit. Bricklayers, and stone masons,
d carpenters, in the building Of walls,
M instrument made of cord, ut the
of which lump of lead is fastened.
kev drop it over the side of the wall,
as the plummet naturally seeks the
ter of gravity in the earth, the workman
covers where the wall recedes, and
ere it bulges out, and Just what is the
fpendicular. Our text represents God
Standing on the wall of character, which
Israelites had built, and in that way
ssuring it. "And the Lord said unto
Amos, what seest thou? and 1 said, A
NIB line"
What the world wants is straight up
down religion. Much of the so-called
Etv of the day bends this way and that,
suit the times. 1t is horizontal with
state of sentiment and morals. We
Ne all been building wall of character,
it is glaringly imperfect and needs re-
structlon. How shall it be brought into
perpendicular? Only by the divine
kasurement. "And the Lord said unto
Amos, what seest thou? and said, A
umb line. /"
The whole tendency of the times is tc
ke US act by the standard of what others
If they play cards, we play cards.
they dance, we dance. If
ey read certain styles of books, we read
En, Ne throw over the wall of our
arater the tangled plumb line of other
Is snl reject the infallible test which
BIOS saw. The question for me should
lie what you think is right, but what
ID thinks is right. This perpetual refer
veto the behavior of others, rs though
decided anything but human fallibllity,
mistake as wide as the world. There
i0,oo0 plumb lines in use, but only one
true and exact, and that is the line Of
Fi's eternal right. There is mighty
empt being made to reconstruct and
up the Zen Commandments. To many
BY seem tco rigid. The tower of Pisa
JUS over about thirteen feet from the
Fpendicular, and people go thousands of
es 10 See its graceful inclination, and
extra braces and various architectural
ltrivauces it is kept leaning from century
century. Why not have the ten granite
pcks of Sinai set little aslant? Why
have the pillar of truth a leaning tower?
by is not an ellipse as good as o square?
by IS not an oblique as good as straight
aud down? My friends, we must have
tandard: shall it be Gods or mans?
Ihe divine plumb line needs to be thrown
er ali merchandise. Thousands of years
solomon discovered the tendency of
gers to depreciate goods. He saw n
veatlng down an article lower and
Eef, and saying it was not worth tn
&c asked, and when he had purchase
he lowest point he told everybody what
harp bargain he had struck, and how he
outwtted the merchant. Proverbs Xx.
1T is naught, it is, naught, saith the
yer, but when he is gone his way, then
ooasteth." SO utterly askew is society
his matter that you seldom find seller
ling the price that he expects to get.
puts on higher value than he pro-
es to receive, knowing that he will have
drop. II he wants fifty, he asks seventy
And il he wants 1000 he asks $500.
IS nanght," saith the buyer. "The
is detective; the style of goods is
pr; can get elsewhere better article
smaller price; it is out of fashion; it is
laged; it will fade; it will not wear
W." After q while the merchant, from
persuasion or from desire to dispose of
particular stock of goods, says: "Well,
elt at your own price," and the pur-
User goes home with light step and calls
his private Office his confidential
ends, and chuckles while he tells how
tor half price he got the goods. In
Yer words he lies and was proud of it. /,
Ehihg would make times as good, and |
earning of q livelihood SO easy, as the
yersal adoption of the law of right. !
pielon strikes through all bargain max l
Men who sell know not whether
VIII ever get the money. Purchasers |
y" not whether the goods shipped will
according to the sample, and what, with
large number of clerks who are making
entries and then absconding to
aaa, and the explosion of firms that
LOT millions of dollars, honest men are
|Aelr wits end to make living. He I
stands up amid all the pressure and
right is accomplishing something
@Ea the establishment of high COM
gl1l prosperity. have deep sympathy !
we latorng classes who toll with hand !
loot. But we must not forget the
Piless men who, without any complaint
pahnered professions through the
o. are enduring stress of circnm-
lees terrific. The fortunate people OF
NaY are those who are receiving daily
eo or regular salaries. And the men
10 be pitied are those who conduct q
,aess while prices are fulling, and yet
~ Fay their clerks and employees, and
u such fearful straits that they would !
""s ness o-morrow if it were not for .
wreck and r,1iO of ofbarc When DpO.